Scared

As Josh and I left church yesterday, we were discussing his upcoming teaching gig. Both of us are looking forward to next year for many reasons, some very obvious. We have a wedding to look forward to, of course, a honeymoon to enjoy, AND we will finally get to live together in Littleton! But, in one short semester, Josh will finish his long journey of getting his teaching degree and will be student teaching next fall.

That was our topic of discussion as we enjoyed the beautiful weather on the walk to my car. I made a joke to Josh that his students were probably scared of him because sometimes he looks kind of mean.

(As a side note, if you truly know Josh, he is a goofy, kind guy who is very, very silly. However, when he enters into the public realm, he often puts on his tough guy face which isn't always inviting. So I always give him a hard time about his "mean face" and joke how his students are probably scared to death of him. In reality, the students he works with right now really like him. One girl calls him "Dude," and when Josh tells her Dude isn't appropriate to call her teacher, she says, "Oh, sorry. I meant Mr. Dude." Another students follows Josh around to hear about Josh's time in the military.)

As I teased Josh, he said to me, "These students scare the crap of me." I thought he mispoke, so I repeated what I thought he should have said.

"Do you mean these students are scared of you?"

"No, I mean, these students scare the crap of me."

I laughed the rest of the way back to the car. Josh, tough military guy with a "mean face" is a little bit intimidated of his middle school students.

(And I totally get it. Teaching is tough, and standing in front of middle and high school students is not for the weak. They judge. They laugh. They talk. It's hard standing in front of them daily, but I wouldn't change it for the world).

Josh is going to make the most perfect teacher!